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by The_Optimist (orphan_account)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: But from, Discussion of feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Foreign Language, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reunion, Swearing, The hotel scene, after neil's kidnapped, andrew's pov, anyway, can you tell i'm sleep deprived?, canon complient, mentions of injuries from graphic violence, not editted so good luck, that's what the mature tag is for plus swears, this is that scene, y'know the one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 02:18:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10675650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/The_Optimist
Summary: Andrew said he wasn't going to protect Neil anymore. It had been hard to let go, but he hadn't wanted Neil thinking he wanted to keep looking after him for no reason. No obvious reason. Neil needed to think Andrew hated him and that was that.He regretted that choice.





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**Author's Note:**

> So, Neil's injuries on his face are mentioned as well as how he got them. There's a lot of violence from Andrew before Neil arrives, and threats of violence. Andrew also thinks about murdering people many times, so. Basically, it's all canon complient.

Andrew couldn't care less about the screaming crowds. Insults bounced off his thick skin like water off a duck's back. He would never be brought down by something as petty as angry, useless, words. That was until the first bottle flew.  
  
He wasn't concerned about himself. He could deal with pain, and everyone knew it. But Kevin was still under his protection, and no matter what he had said before, he would help Neil if it came to it. Wymack tried to get them all back to the bus, but Andrew lost sight of him quickly. Angered screams on his other side alerted him to an oncoming attack, and he felt the beginnings of annoyance stirring in his gut. He moved forward to grab Kevin, but most of his team was gone. Even the bright orange of their team colours wasn't enough to point them out in this crowd.  
  
The police were working uselessly as always, and Andrew left them to it. He wasn't looking for a fight just left, not when he had people to protect. Up ahead he caught a flash of Renee's hair and a glimpse of her flying fists, and he felt a smug sense of knowledge that whoever had crossed her was meeting a timely end at her hands.  
It was in his brief distraction that he almost tripped over something lying on the ground in his slow pace towards the bus. He almost stepped over it, thinking just to be a cooler or bottle of some sort, but then he looked down. The familiar fluorescent colour brought his foot back down, and he crouched to pick up the bag. He pulled the zipper down to check who had dropped it in their rush, and almost froze when he saw the familiar number 10 printed across the jersey lying on the top. Instead, Andrew searched the rest of the bag, and almost dropped Neil's phone when it fell out the side pocket. He almost rolled his eyes, and if he were there, would have called Neil an idiot for leaving his bag behind, but he couldn't ignore the tension in his body and something in him screaming that this wasn't right. Something had happened to Neil.  
Andrew pushed it to the side for now, standing once again and using his height to his advantage to weave through the crowds. He wasn't the first back to the bus, but Nicky was alone when he boarded. He didn't dare put Neil's bag below, not only for the riot outside, but also because he didn't want it out of his sight until he had the real thing once again. The gnawing in his gut grew worse.  
  
Nicky smiled up at him tightly. "That was a bit rough, wasn't it? Hope everyone's okay," he said, glancing out the window before turning back to Andrew. Andrew didn't say anything in return, just turned and walked to the back of the bus to reclaim his seat. He set Neil's bag on the seat next to him, but kept his hand wrapped in the strap.  
  
Next back were Allison, followed shortly by Renee. Her knuckles were bloody, and she was quickly forming a black eye, but she grinned victoriously at him. He gave her a small nod, and she smiled ever so slightly wider, before taking her seat next to Allison. It wasn't long after that before the others came streaming in more quickly. Abby first, then Kevin. Andrew checked him over visually, but he appeared unharmed. Wymack was up next with Aaron, and Dan and Matt weren't far behind them. Andrew waited impatiently, though he refused to show it, for Neil to climb the stairs, grin present on his face under the shinning blood of both rioters and himself, but not a hint of pain on his face. Andrew almost frowned when he pictured it, simply because that's what he was doing. Picturing Neil exactly as he was, as he should be here. It was almost too much like caring.  
  
Wymack paced up and down the aisle, using the excuse of checking on the others when he was really just nervous. They waited ten minutes in relative silence, the screaming of the crowd dying down quickly as somebody finally got control of the masses. They waited even as cars began leaving, even as the crowds ebbed until they were barely streams, even when it had been near enough half an hour since Matt had closed the door behind him and there was still no sign of their smallest striker. Andrew thumbed Neil's phone between his fingers. Someone had suggested calling him earlier, but Andrew had simply held the phone up and Wymack had vetoed the idea. Andrew realised suddenly, the phone twisting under his steadily strengthening grip, that he was nervous. Anxious wouldn't be a stretch. He stood suddenly, drawing everyone's attention, and dropped the phone back into the bag. He slung it over his shoulder, leaving his own behind, and walked off the bus. Nobody protested, but he glared at Wymack when he tried to follow.  
  
Andrew walked the area outside the arena twice before going back inside. He walked through the locker room, the inner court, the stands, the home side and looped back again incase he had missed even something. 0 it had said. The last text on Neil's phone was a zero from an unknown number, and now he was missing. Andrew found himself repeating the words "thank you. You were amazing," over and over again in his head, finally seeing it for the sad goodbye it was. How could he just leave, when Andrew had asked him to stay?  
  
He made his way back to the bus, where Wymack was waiting outside. "He's gone," Andrew stated calmly. Inside he was anything but.  
  
"I didn't think he's do it without at least attempting a goodbye. Or whilst we were at a game. Might be easier for him but it's certainly not for me." Wymack's voice was gruff with annoyance, but Andrew heard his nerves anyway.  
  
"No." Wymack stopped from where he had been turning to open the door. He looked over his shoulder at Andrew, but before he could continue, Andrew spoke again.  
"He didn't leave. He is gone." Andrew looked down at the bag in his grip, and found his knuckles white. When he looked up again, he caught the panic on Wymack's face, fleeting before it was covered with a half hearted scowl.  
  
"Is he coming back?" Wymack asked, quieter than before. Andrew guessed there must have been some sort of expression on his face, because Wymack had that look in his eyes like he did every time one of his foxes was hurting.  
  
"I don't know," Andrew said, honesty lacing through his voice and the pain in his chest. He hated not knowing things like this, especially when Neil was involved, but this was the worst it has ever been. He stepped back onto the bus, and was greeted with silence. Most of his team mates looked worried, but his eyes stopped on Kevin. He looked ill, face pale and eyes cast down. He was hunched into his seat, tucked up against he window, and looking perfectly guilty. "Kevin," his voice was almost calm, but the anger under it made his intended target jump.  
  
He moved forward quickly, pushing Kevin's head back into the window, one hand wrapped around his throat, and then the other. Kevin could have tried to kick him, and Andrew would have sat on his legs, but he didn't do more than struggle slightly under his grip. "Where is he?" It was a hiss, threatening and angry and Andrew was not fucking around this time. He would go back on his promise with Kevin if it meant Neil would be safe. "Where?!" He demanded again, when Kevin refused to answer. Renee coughed, and Andrew loosened his grip enough for Kevin to heave in a shallow breath, face loosing the slight blue tint it has taken on around his cheeks.  
  
"Baltimore," he finally choked out, looking pained from more than just the hands around his neck. "His father-" Kevin paused for breath, and Andrew didn't let go. "His father will have him. The Baltimore Butcher." Kevin's admission was quiet, and under normal circumstances the others wouldn't have been able to hear it. Except they were all leaning in, watching in worry and now in shock.  
  
"Who?" Nicky asked, and Andrew waited for someone else to answer.  
  
"Nathan Wesninski. Crime boss of Baltimore, widower, and one of the most dangerous people in the east after the Moriyama family. Nine years ago his wife and son went missing, and they were believed dead. He was never charged, but went to jail for other reasons not long after." Renee was watching Kevin and Andrew intently, her gaze never once flickering to anything else during her short info session.  
  
"Obviously Neil survived," Aaron said, frowning at Kevin. "Why not tell us when he went missing?"  
  
Kevin shook his head, "I couldn't." Andrew barely held back a growl, and gave a squeeze before his grip went lax again.  
  
"You are both idiots," Andrew told him, releasing his hold and moving away. He watched as Kevin heaved and coughed in his seat, and eventually as Renee and Matt went to him. He turned to Wymack, and glared until he made his way to the driver's seat, turning the key in the engine and then raced out of the now nearly empty parking lot. The foxes quickly found a seat, most of them grouped together at the front. Andrew took his seat at the back once again, and prayed for Kevin's neck to bruise and for Neil to be safe.  
  
It wasn't much later, though it had felt like forever, when Wymack pulled the bus up outside a hotel, and quickly ushered everyone off. Andrew took both bags with him, and glared at anyone who looked at him. Nobody approached him, which was of little relief, but at least he didn't have to drop the bags to stab someone. Coach lead them into a single massive room near the top floor, with a few beds, a pullout and a blow up on the floor. Andrew set the bags down beside the blow up, as it was closest to the corner without being near anyone else, and sat and glared. It was nearing midnight when the loud sound of Wymack's phone ringing broke them out of their thoughts.  
  
With a muffled swear, Wymack answered, listening intently. There was a second of relief on his face, before stormy anger took over. Andrew felt his own rage brighten at the sight, before Wymack began shouting. "What the fuck do you mean we can't see him?! Where is he?!" There was protest from around the room, and Andrew felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. There was a pause from Wymack, and then he rattled off their address before hanging up. He turned to the room at large, but had his eyes on Andrew. "He's alive. He's in the hospital right now, but we can't see him for some fucking reason." Outrage hung heavily in the air.  
  
It was barely twenty minutes later when a knock came at the door, and three men from the FBI appeared. One stood outside the door as the others entered, but they didn't get a chance to close it before Andrew pounced. He was on the first man in a second, fists flying and not even bothering to use his knives when all he wanted was blood on his hands. He lashed out at the second man too, when he tried to intervene, and the third when he stepped in. With Wymack's help they managed to restrain him, and one of them cuffed him to Wymack. He glowered at them as one left to call back up, and the other two watched him cautiously, blood on their lips and temples. "Not yet. Drop it, now," Wymack had hissed at him, but Andrew ignored him. He would take down anyone that kept him from Neil.  
  
The two men explained quickly what had happened, they were blunt and boring, and had the smug air that normally wouldn't bother Andrew, but made his skin itch now for his blades in their flesh. Finally, they allowed questions, but nobody spoke. Abby moved forward, "when can we see Neil?" Her voice was gentle but her tone hard, as she stared down the two men between her and her fox.  
  
"We can't allow that. He is in our custody, and we can't allow you to interfere." Shouts came up again, mostly from Matt and Dan, but the FBI men did not relent.  
They left them alone to stand outside in the hall a few minutes later, and Andrew fumed. The ache on the side of his head was nothing in comparison to the ache in his chest, the poison slowly eating away at his heart.  
  
When one of the men returned almost two hours later, he looked only at Wymack. "We ask that you move the bus to another location." Wymack frowned at him.  
"And why would I do that?" He asked, his voice biting in anger.  
  
"It is too obvious. If we bring Nathaniel here, he will be instantly connected to you." The room fell quiet, before they realised he meant Neil. Wymack nodded quickly, and pulled Andrew along as he was escorted down to the bus. Andrew stood beside him as he drove, watching the FBI man sat in the front row with suspicious eyes. He didn't get close enough for Andrew to hit him, and Andrew knew it was because of his broken nose. They put it round the back of an office building's mostly unused car park, and walked back out onto the street. A car was waiting for them, and the three of them pilled in, the man in his smug suit sliding into the passenger seat.  
  
They made it back to the hotel, and Andrew spotted a new SUV out front. A tug on his wrist told him Wymack had seen it too, and Andrew's heart pounded. The second they stopped Andrew had the door open and was running, dragging Wymack along with him, not a care for either of their wrists. There were two more feds outside the door when they arrived, but they weren't fast enough to stop Andrew. He burst through the door, cutting off an alarmed Neil, who turned with wide eyes to face him. One of the new feds reached for him but Wymack pushed past him, and Andrew went falling towards Neil as fast as he could. Neil turned and grabbed one of fed's arm, pulling on it quickly and dislodging the gun in his hold. Andrew was unconcerned with him, watching instead as Neil instantly withdrew his hands, curling around them as he looked up at the man. "Don't," he hissed in anger and pain, and Andrew felt his chest loosen ever so slightly. The anger raged on, brighter than ever, at the obvious pain Neil was in, and the bandages covering his face. In an instant he was reaching behind Neil to grab his neck, pulling him down to the ground, and then forcing him down by his shoulder when he resisted. Andrew felt someone move behind him, and the cuff around his wrist tugged as Wymack moved, saying something to whoever had approached, but Andrew only had eyes for Neil.  
  
He was looking at his hands, hunched over and looking as vulnerable as Andrew had ever seen him. He flipped his hands slowly, before finally looking up and meeting Andrew's gaze. Andrew was infuriated, unable to hide it from Neil's knowing eyes as he turned his chin. He was surprised at how much his anger grew as he took in the mark's on his face, and had to stop himself from leaving his own on Neil's jaw.  
  
Neil spoke first, surprising Andrew. "They could have blinded you." Andrew had forgotten about the hit to his head, having moved on and forgotten the pain when he had been so angry, but it throbbed at it's mention. It still wasn't enough to distract him from Neil, however. "All that time fighting and you never learned to duck?" Neil's attempt at humour did nothing to abate his rage, or even to contain it. He stared Neil down, letting go of his face to pull back his hood and take him in fully. He measured the tape on Neil's face with his fingers, free hand working his way gently across his covered injuries as his chained hand hung limply behind him. He peeled back the tape to reveal long and thin slices across his right cheek, almost going from eye to mouth. They were red and irritated in their freshness, stitches covering their entire lengths, and Andrew had to stop from clenching his fist. He turned then to Neil's left cheek, but stopped when Neil flinched as the gauze came away. It quickly became apparent as he pulled it off more gently why that was.  
  
Large circular burns covered the area Andrew knew Neil's four tattoo had once been. The feeling of seeing it gone should have been a good one, but it only made him feel sick at what had taken it's place. He felt ready to murder someone again, was ready to tear this city apart and raise Nathan Wesninski from the grave to give him the slow and painful death he deserved. He placed the gauze down slowly, eyes hardly even flickering in their intense stare on Neil face as he did so. "Christ, Neil," Wymack said behind him, but Andrew didn't turn. The noise of movement almost made Andrew turn his gaze, but Wymack's rushed, "don't," stopped whoever had dared approach. Andrew went back to inspecting Neil's face, turning his head slowly to take in the damaged he had uncovered. His anger was bubbling, and one wrong move from anyone would have them dead in seconds. He dropped his hands from Neil's face to prevent it from being his next target, instead curling them in his jumper, unable to let go of him for even a few seconds.  
  
Of course, Neil decided that would be a great time to say something stupid like "I'm sorry," and Andrew couldn't help the instinct to rear his fist back. It pulled in the cuff, and he stopped, shaking under the strain of not wiping that look from Neil's eyes. Eventually, he lowered his fist, but the anger was still there. "Say it again and I will kill you," he said, and the FBI agent from earlier that day stepped froward.  
  
"This is the last time I'm going to say it to you: if you can't stow that attitude and behave-" he was cut off by Neil rounding on him, fire in his gaze.  
  
"You'll what, asshole?" He was as ready to fight as Andrew was, though nowhere near as angry. At least he still had that. That part of Neil hadn't been a lie.  
  
The fed practically growled at Neil. "The same goes for you Nathaniel, that's your second strike. A third misstep and this," he said with a gesture around the room to indicate the foxes, "is over. Remember, you are only here because we are allowing it." Andrew wouldn't stand for this agent's smart mouth, and turned to put him in his place with his fists and his blades. Instead, Neil's hands framed his face, not touching but warning him not to move. Andrew froze, glaring at the fed before turning back to Neil. The warm look he got in return was almost worth it, before it became cool again quickly, Neil turning to tear the agent a new one.  
  
"Don't lie to a liar. We both know I am here because you have nothing without me." The anger in Neil's voice chilled something hot and raging inside Andrew, and with a glance over his shoulder he saw some of the foxes freeze too. A pile of dead bodies can't close cases or play the money trail with you. I told you what those answers would cost you and you agreed to pay it. So take this handcuff off Andrew, get your man out of our way, and stop using up my twenty minutes with your useless posturing." Andrew felt his stomach drop at the time frame. He hadn't known that he only had twenty minutes. Twenty minutes until what? He refused to believe they would just take Neil away again like that, and if they tried he would kill them.  
  
There was a heavy silence, the foxes watching the feds silently over Neil's shoulder, and then finally there was movement behind him. His cuff came loose, and Andrew brought his wrist forward to stretch his fingers. He hated handcuffs. He dropped his hand to his side again, this time more comfortably. Footsteps moved away again behind him, but they didn't leave the room. Knowing he finally had some space with just Neil, he focused only on him.  
  
"So the attitude problem wasn't an act, at least," he could barely keep the heat from his voice as he said it, but he knew Neil felt it.  
  
"I was going to tell you," Neil tried, but Andrew flared again.  
  
"Stop lying to me."  
  
"I'm not lying," Neil insisted, "I would have told you last night, but they were in our locker room." They? Andrew wasn't sure what he meant, it was just the team and the security guards, and Andrew had an eidetic memory.  
  
"They who?" Asked someone behind him, and Neil switched quickly to German.  
  
"Those weren't security guards that came for us. They were there for me, and they would have hurt all of you to get me out of there. I thought by keeping my mouth shut I could keep you safe." Neil was being genuine. Honesty was a good look on him, and Andrew would appreciate it if he wasn't still bubbling over. His thumb brushed the bruise under his eye, almost mirroring the burns on Neil's own face. "I didn't know they staged a riot."  
  
"What did I tell you about playing the martyr card?" The self-sacrificing idiot.  
  
"You said no one wanted it. You didn't tell me to stop." Some of the heat fell away at their usual tone of conversation that still felt easy.  
  
"It was implied."  
  
"I'm stupid, remember? I need things spelled out." Andrew could think of many things Neil was right now, but he didn't believe stupid for a second.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Am I at ninety-four yet?" Andrew would score him at one thousand if he wouldn't feel overly dramatic doing so.  
  
"You are at one hundred." He barely gave a pause before he went on, "what happened to your face?"  
  
Neil froze, briefly considering the question, but answered shortly. "A dashboard lighter." His face had grown ever so slightly paler, and he winced as Nicky heaved behind him. Andrew saw Aaron move from the mattress, as if to approach them, his eyes sad and sympathetic for once as he let out a short curse. Neil turned quickly to see who and moved, and the room reacted to his face quickly. Aaron had joined Nicky, but Kevin hit the wall behind him, fingers finding his own tattoo as if to protect it.  
  
Dan had her hand curled tightly into Matt's shoulder, holding him in place as he tried to go to Neil. "Jesus, Neil. The fuck did they do to you?" Matt's voice was hoarse from pain at seeing his friend in such a state, and Andrew felt himself agreeing completely with his team mates for once.  
  
Abby tried to move forward, and Andrew snapped at her. "Get away from us," he was too angry to let anyone near, would tear her apart if she tried.  
  
"Andrew, he's hurt. Let me see him," she demanded quietly, but Andrew refused to let go. He had twenty minutes before they tried to take Neil from him, and he was not going to let that happen any sooner than it had to, or at all if he could help it.  
  
"If you make me repeat myself you will not live to regret it."  
  
Neil seemed shocked at his words, or perhaps the voice behind them, but Andrew ignored the reaction. Neil tugged on his hair, not enough to hurt, but an attempt to pull him away. Andrew didn't turn until the third pull, and looked up into Neil's eyes. The look he saw there was hard to describe, but if he were to attempt to interpret it, he would think Neil looked safe in his hold.  
  
Neil continued to look at him as he addressed Abby. "Abby, I just got out of the hospital, I'm as good as I can be right now."  
  
Abby wasn't ready to back down yet. "Neil," she tried again, but Neil cut her off.  
  
"Please." She paused, and Andrew saw her look between them, stressed and brow furrowed, before resigning herself back to her seat. Andrew finally realised he had been holding too tightly to Neil's hair, and when Abby's presence faded back out of his immediate focus he loosened it. Neil relaxed ever so slightly under his hands. "Did they tell you who I am?" Neil asked quietly, and Andrew felt rage towards Kevin once again.  
  
"They didn't have to. I choked the answers out of Kevin on the way here." He had been right when Kevin's neck had bruised, something he hadn't thought he would be proud of but was. He powered through Neil's surprised look, "guess you weren't an orphan after all. Where's your father now?" He hadn't heard from the FBI agents, but they weren't much help anyway. He hoped for all their sakes the man was dead.  
  
"My uncle executed him," his voice wasn't quite pleased, but he wasn't upset at that development. He carefully reached across the divide between their bodies to place two fingers against Andrew's chest, over his heart. "I spent my whole life wishing he would die, but I never thought he would." Neil shook, and Andrew decided to let his hand stay where it rested against his skin through his shirt. The light pressure was comforting. "I thought he was invincible. I can't believe it was that easy."  
  
"Was it easy? Kevin told us who he worked for." Are you actually safe? He needed to know who he was going to face to protect Neil, but he needed to know if they were going to make it out of those fights alive.  
  
"My uncles said he was going to them to try and negotiate a ceasefire. I don't know if he's strong enough to bargain with them, but I like to think he wouldn't have risked without real ground to stand on. Promise me no one's told the FBI about them."  
  
"No one's said a word to them since they said we couldn't see you." Neil seemed shocked, and Andrew wondered if he was actually that stupid. He opened his mouth to speak again, but it was choked.  
  
When he tried again, his words were still too harsh on his throat, but they came out clearer. "But why? I've done nothing but lie to them. I willingly put them all in danger so I could play a little longer. They got hurt last night because of me. Why would they protect me now?" Andrew searched his face for a second, before answering.  
  
"You are a fox." Neil was confused for a second, like that couldn't be all it was. He didn't say anything about it though. He dropped his head instead, his jaw working and Andrew could almost see his mind racing. His heart leapt and his body screamed 'protect,' but he didn't know from who yet.  
  
"Andrew, they want to take me away from here." Neil's words made something in Andrew ache, and he latched onto his anger once again. "They want to enrol me in the Witness Protection Program so my father's people can't find me. I don't want-" he cut off quickly, the words coming out wrong as he tried again. "If you tell me to leave, I'll go."  
  
Andrew froze. This was it. Neil didn't know how wanted he was here. He didn't know how much Andrew needed him to stay. Andrew's fingers, curled in his sweatshirt pulled of their own accord. Neil didn't move anywhere, but the fabric between his fingers was grounding. Neil was real, he was here, and he was asking if he could stay. He saw Neil starting to break under the silence, and spoke to all of them as he switched back to English.  
  
"You aren't going anywhere. You're staying with us. If they try to take you away they will lose." His words had their intended effect in grabbing everyone's attention. Dan was first to speak, voice disbelieving.  
  
"Take you away? To where?"  
  
"Are we talking about 'away for questioning' or 'away for good'?" Matt chimed in, and the agent stood behind Andrew answered first.  
  
"Both." He obviously had no self-preservation instincts.  
  
"You can't have him," Nicky demanded from the far wall, "he belongs with us."  
  
"When people find out he is still alive they will come for him. It is not safe for him here anymore, and it sure as hell isn't safe for you." The same fed as before spoke, and Andrew decided he hated this one the most, which was impressive as he thought he hated all of them to his capacity of emotion.  
  
"What part of 'go to hell' do you need us to explain to you?" Allison snapped.  
  
Matt jumped in next. "We're all legal adults here. We've made our decision. Unless he wants to stay with you, you'd better bring Neil back to us when you're done with all your questions."  
  
It seems they'd pushed the agent too far, as his voice finally gave away his irritation. "'Neil' isn't a real person. It's just a cover that let Nathaniel evade authorities. It's past time to let him go." Andrew silently decided he was going to get Neil to give up that name, if he didn't decide to do so himself. It sounded ugly and wrong in the agent's mouth, and Andrew was suddenly glad he didn't taint Neil's real name.  
  
"Neil or Nathaniel or whoever, he's ours, and we're not letting him go. You want us to vote on it or something? Bet you it'll be unanimous."  
  
"Coach Wymack, talk some sense into your team." Andrew knew he had chosen the wrong person to turn to if he wanted to win.  
  
"Neil," Wymack began, and Neil looked away from Andrew and over his head. Andrew didn't turn to look at Wymack. "Talk to me. What do you want?" Andrew searched Neil's face with his eyes, watching him as he answered.  
  
His voice was quiet and jagged words spilled hurried from his lips as he tried to answer. Andrew wanted to clean them up and reassemble them to make some sort of sense, but let Neil go on. "I want-I know I shouldn't stay, but I can't-I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose any of you." His gaze briefly flicked back to Andrew's face, and something warm touched the empty places inside Andrew's broken soul. "I don't want to be Nathaniel anymore. I want to be Neil for as long as I can." Andrew was grateful.  
  
Wymack sounded pleased when he spoke again. "Good. I'd have a hell of a time fitting 'Wesninski' on a jersey."  
  
The rest of the time spent in the room began to blur for Andrew. He knew they were still talking around them, but his anger had been buried too long, and their irritating ways began to push him over the edge. His hands twisted further in Neil's sweatshirt. "Get rid of them before I kill them," he told Neil, switching back to German.  
  
"They're waiting for answers. They were never able to charge my father while he was alive. They're hoping I know enough to start decimating his circle in his absence. I'm going to give them the truth, or as much of it as I can without telling them my father was acting on someone's orders. Do you want to be there for it? It's the story I should have given you months ago." Andrew didn't even hesitate in his response.  
  
"I have to go. I don't trust them to give you back." Andrew finally pried his hands free, before standing. Neil stood without help, and turned to Wymack. Andrew watched as he talked, first with Wymack and then with Dan, even heard Nicky chime in behind him, but didn't register anything they said. He was too busy focusing on Neil, how he finally began to ease as he realised he could have this. Andrew wanted him to know he would always have this, but he didn't have the words yet.  
  
Neil's "thank you," brought him back, hearing the 'you were amazing' ring inside his head before Allison interrupted its repeat. "No, thank you. You just closed three outstanding bets and made me five hundred bucks. I'd rather find out exactly why and when you two hooked up than think about this awfulness any longer," Andrew chanced a look at Neil to see his reaction of surprise and confusion. Andrew then turned to look at the others as Allison continued, "so let's talk about that on the ride back instead."  
  
Their silence only confirmed what Allison had said, and Andrew saw Aaron's face go slack. Nicky, for once, was at a loss for words, and Andrew was silently thankful for his gaping. Instead of saying anything in response, Neil turned back to Andrew. "Ready?" He asked.  
  
"Waiting on you," he said in return, turning to lead the way to the door. Andrew ignored the fed as he spoke to Wymack, and barely heard his coach's response, but did pause when Wymack addressed Neil.  
  
"We'll wait for you, all right? As long as it takes Neil." Andrew hoped his look said the same when Neil next looked at him.  
  
They headed out to the SUV waiting outside, and Andrew got in first, leaving Neil his preferred window seat. "Can I really be Neil again?" He asked in German after a while looking out the window, and Andrew faced him fully as Neil turned back to look at him.  
  
"I told Neil to stay. Leave Nathaniel buried in Baltimore with his father." Neil watched him in silence for a few seconds, a small and grateful smile on his face, before he turned back to the window. Neil's fingers seemed to move of their own accord, a pattern he'd seen Neil trace before a handful of times, had felt himself against the skin of his own palm.  
  
The shape of Andrew's house key being traced on Neil's hand was enough to freeze him in place. Neil didn't notice, whispering "Neil Abram Josten," to himself as he did so. Andrew was suddenly hit with what that warm feeling was that only Neil could fit. Home.  
  



End file.
